1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method and apparatus for high performance switching in local area communications networks such as token ring, ATM, Ethernet, fast Ethernet, gigabit Ethernet, 10 gigabit Ethernet and any networking environments. In particular, the invention relates to a new fast flexible filter processor architecture, that provides both flexibility and wire speed switching performance advantage, even for very high density port counts.
2. Description of Related Art
As computer performance has increased in recent years, the demands on computer networks has significantly increased; faster computer processors and higher memory capabilities need networks with high bandwidth capabilities to enable high speed transfer of significant amounts of data. The well-known Ethernet technology, which is based upon numerous IEEE Ethernet standards, is one example of computer networking technology which has been able to be modified and improved to remain a viable computing technology. A more complete discussion of networking systems can be found, for example, in SWITCHED AND FAST ETHERNET, by Breyer and Riley (Ziff-Davis, 1996), and numerous IEEE publications relating to IEEE 802 standards.
Based upon the Open Systems Interconnect (OSI) 7-layer reference model, network capabilities have grown through the development of repeaters, bridges, routers, and, more recently, “switches”, which operate with various types of communication media. Thickwire, thinwire, twisted pair, and optical fiber are examples of media, which has been used for computer networks. Switches, as they relate to computer networking and to Ethernet, are hardware-based devices, which control the flow of data packets or cells based upon destination address information which is available in each packet. A properly designed and implemented switch should be capable of receiving a packet and switching the packet to an appropriate output port at what is referred to wirespeed or linespeed, which is the stated maximum speed capability of that particular network. Basic Ethernet wirespeed is up to 10 megabits per second, and Fast Ethernet is up to 100 megabits per second.
The newest Ethernet is referred to as 10 gigabit Ethernet, and is capable of transmitting data over a network at a rate of up to 10,000 megabits per second. As speed has increased, design constraints and design requirements have become more and more complex with respect to following appropriate design and protocol rules and providing a low cost, commercially viable solution. For example, high speed switching requires high speed memory to provide appropriate buffering of packet data; conventional Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) is relatively slow, and requires hardware-driven refresh. The speed of DRAMs, therefore, as buffer memory in network switching, results in valuable time being lost, and it becomes almost impossible to operate the switch or the network at linespeed. Furthermore, external CPU involvement should be avoided, since CPU involvement also makes it almost impossible to operate the switch at linespeed.
Additionally, as network switches have become more and more complicated with respect to requiring rules tables and memory control, a complex multi-chip solution is necessary which requires logic circuitry, sometimes referred to as glue logic circuitry, to enable the various chips to communicate with each other. Additionally, cost/benefit tradeoffs are necessary with respect to expensive but fast SRAMs versus inexpensive but slow DRAMs. Additionally, DRAMs, by virtue of their dynamic nature, require refreshing of the memory contents in order to prevent losses thereof. SRAMs do not suffer from the refresh requirement, and have reduced operational overhead which compared to DRAMs such as elimination of page misses, etc. Although DRAMs have adequate speed when accessing locations on the same page, speed is reduced when other pages must be accessed.
Referring to the OSI 7-layer reference model discussed previously, and illustrated in FIG. 7, the higher layers typically have more information. Various types of products are available for performing switching-related functions at various levels of the OSI model. Hubs or repeaters operate at layer one, and essentially copy and “broadcast” incoming data to a plurality of spokes of the hub. Layer two switching-related devices are typically referred to as multiport bridges, and are capable of bridging two separate networks. Bridges can build a table of forwarding rules based upon which MAC (media access controller) addresses exist on which ports of the bridge, and pass packets which are destined for an address which is located on an opposite side of the bridge. Bridges typically utilize what is known as the “spanning tree” algorithm to eliminate potential data loops; a data loop is a situation wherein a packet endlessly loops in a network looking for a particular address. The spanning tree algorithm defines a protocol for preventing data loops.
Layer three switches, sometimes referred to as routers, can forward packets based upon the destination network address. Layer three switches are capable of learning addresses and maintaining tables thereof which correspond to port mappings. Processing speed for layer three switches can be improved by utilizing specialized high performance hardware, and off loading the host CPU so that instruction decisions do not delay packet forwarding.
In general, a network switch Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) has different hardware modules, each dedicated to a specific task of processing the incoming packet and to maintain wire speed throughput, the hardware will perform the packet modification and steering to respective egress ports. The architecture of such switches is closely coupled to specific packet type supported and hardware logic design is based on these packet types. These switches, though offer wire speed switching and best performance, are not flexible, as they usually cannot be re-used for new packet formats or new protocols.
On the other hand, network processors are processors with generic instruction sets and with some packet parsing and processing capabilities. The packet is switched based on the program execution. Though they offer the most in terms of flexibility, yet are not fast to offer wire speed switching for higher density port counts. This is due to the delays in program execution time, then packet parsing and finally to perform packet switching.
A such, there is a need for a processor and processing methods that are both fast and flexible, in that the processor can filter in a flexible manner and still allow for wire speed switching.